Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on Wednesday sent a letter to season ticket holders explaining the front office’s “methodical” search to find a new head coach.
The Browns have been ripped nationally for firing Rob Chudzinski after one season and because of their stealth approach to interviewing possible replacements outwardly seem to have no plan in place.
Also on Wednesday, the Vikings hired Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to replace Leslie Frazier. That means the Browns, the first of seven teams to fire their coach, are the only team still without one.
In his letter, Haslam referred to waiting to interview coaches participating in the playoffs, an indication the Browns might interested in more than only Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase. Since the Browns seem determined to hire an offensive-minded coach, Haslam also could be referring to 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman or Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
Haslam’s letter follows:

Fans,
I thought it was important to take a little bit of time to update you on our head-coach search. We have had the opportunity to speak to a number of outstanding candidates. We have purposefully been very methodical in our approach. We believe it is very important to stay disciplined to this process and to interview all of the candidates on our list. We are strongly committed to finding the right person to coach the Cleveland Browns.
We understood from the beginning that if we wanted to speak to all of the coaches on our list that we may need to wait until they have completed their participation in the playoffs. We are prepared to wait as long as necessary because this is a very important decision. Everyone in our organization is committed to finding the right leader for our team.
We believe the head coach of the Cleveland Browns to be a very attractive position. We have one of the youngest teams in the league, a roster that includes five Pro Bowlers. In addition, we have more salary-cap room than all but one NFL team. We also have three of the top 35 picks in the upcoming draft and five of the top 83 selections.
We are very much looking forward to adding a strong coach to our football team. On behalf of the Cleveland Browns, I cannot thank you enough for your valuable support and passion that you show for our team.
We look forward to communicating with you again after the search process is complete. Thank you again for your phenomenal support and loyalty.

Jimmy Haslam

The Browns have reportedly interviewed six candidates — Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and former Titans head coach Mike Munchak, plus two candidates that took other jobs. Ken Whisenhunt, the Chargers offensive coordinator in 2013, is the new head coach of the Tennessee Titans. The Browns also interviewed Packers quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo, but he took a job as the Giants offensive coordinator.
McDaniels and Bowles withdrew their names from consideration.